I’m a very silly, naughty, churlish little arse….

December 5th, 2008 | by: Eugene | Comments Off

….but hey, it’s not the first time you’ve walked away from a bunch of Irishmen, eh Roy?

I’m very sorry, I’ve held that grudge for far too long. Just can’t forgive him.

In other, brief, far more relevant news, Plamen Markov got the door from his post as Bulgaria manager on Tuesday, in the aftermath of their 6-1 beating from Serbia a fortnight ago (The Serbs missed two penalties in that match as well, for the record). Bulgaria have also failed to register a win thus far in qualifying for 2010, and by the time we make the trip to Sofia in late March next year, we could (read that as must, we have Georgia at Croke Park) be seven points clear of them. A positive result for us in Bulgaria could spell the end of their challenge to make the finals, so obviously the Bulgarian Federation felt action needed to be taken before the situation became irretrievable.

The source seems fairly vague upon potential suggestions for a replacement, but reading between the lines, the board could do worse than to pick Srecko Katanec to take charge at least until the end of the campaign. Katanec’s CV includes taking a far weaker Slovenian team to the 2002 World Cup, finishing second in a qualifying group containing Russia, Yugoslavia and Switzerland, before beating Romania in the play-offs. Beyond that, it’s a pure guessing game, perhaps they’ll decide that Terry Venables is the man for the job after a few too many Pirinsko’s? Who knows, whoever they appoint, it’s something we could be doing without.

A new manager means a new broom effect, and a rejuvenated set of players. Bad, bad news, and the last thing we need to be up against, away from home, with a positive result giving us a fantastic chance of making the play-offs. Players will have to fight for their place once again under new leadership, and we’re in the firing line. Then you look at the quality Bulgaria have at hand if everyone is able and willing. The likes of Georgi Peev, Emil Gargorov and Valeri Bojinov can all do damage if fit, particularly in the latter’s case. Then you have the names familiar to all, Stiliyan Petrov has recently found some of the form at Aston Villa which made him a big name in Scotland, Martin Petrov will also face a race to be fit for the tie, but if on the pitch, his ability from the left side is beyond question, and then there’s the small matter of Man United’s record signing up front. £30 million Dimitar Berbatov. £30 million and 41 goals in 66 international games Dimitar Berbatov. Yeah.

All told, it doesn’t make for clever reading at the moment. But then you can only be so pessimistic, because if the players take my attitude going into the game in Bulgaria, we don’t stand a chance. Best thing to do, is to get the win against Georgia, then go to Sofia full of confidence, believing we can beat anyone, new manager, quality players, hostile crowd, whatever is thrown at us. Get a positive result over there, and we’ve done most of the hard work in finishing in the top two of the group. It’ll be the true acid test of the squad and of Trapattoni’s capabilities as head coach, so the best way to approach it is to think positive. It’ll be very interesting to see how events unfold between now and the 28th March.

That’s yer lot for now, boys and girls. Just a heads up for the next few days, Wayne from the Premiership and Manchester United Offside blogs should be joining me on here, to provide a far more up-to-date and informed opinion on the Irish than my usual inane rambling, so keep your eye out for that, should be good. I’m away to contemplate where else I can stick a pin in my voodoo doll of Keane.

Much love, all.